(Iron Tzars MC)
Motorcycle Club Romance, Suspense, Age Gap
Date Published: October 25,2024
Venus: I comefrom world filled with violence, death, and impossiblechoices. I’ve only backed down from fight once, and that left me withpain and regret. But now, I have chance to balance scales. I’m knownas most dangerous member of Salvation’s Bane MC. But truth is, beneathtough exterior, I’m still a scared young woman running from monsters,trying to protect those I love. That fear ends today. Only problem? Bikernamed Piston. Doesn’t know meaning of personal space. He’salways there, watching me, protecting me, and even though I’d neveradmit it, his presence brings strange sense of peace. He makes me wantthings I can never have.
Piston: Formore than a decade, I’ve been Venus’s silentprotector. In the shadows, I’ve watched her, stalking her every move.When she settled in Palm Beach with Salvation’s Bane, I made sure tobe close by. I keep an eye on her, guarding her, even if she doesn’trealize it. But when an enemy from her past threatens her, I step out of theshadows. Venus is on the hunt, and the monster she’s chasing hasawakened the beast in me. I protect what’s mine. And Venus?She’s mine.
Author’s Note: Venus’ first person narrative is written inheavily accented English. Articles (the, a, an) do not exist in Russianlanguage.
EXCERPT
Piston
Venus firstturned up on my radar over a decade ago when she was in the FSBin Russia. The agency I worked for was very interested in her for somereason. I was never given the details, but I got the feeling they wereinterested in luring her away from Russia. Likely because they were afraidof her. I played my cards carefully regarding Venus. I told them the stricttruth, but I left out a lot.
Like how I’dnever seen her equal in a hunter. Or that that realshade of her hair was a very pale blonde. Or how young she looked when shelet her guard down, which wasn’t often. Or how beautiful she was. Ikept that to myself because I didn’t trust the CIA any further than Icould piss. If they were interested in this woman, she was someone I neededto protect.
For years Ikept to the shadows. When she joined Salvation’s Bane MC,I found a home with Grim Road MC. They were completely off the radar andclose enough for me to keep an eye on Venus.
I had to smile.If she knew the extent to which I’ve been on her sixand for how long, she’d gut me like a fish.
But that’s thething about being in deep cover. You learn how to keepsecrets, even from yourself. And Venus? She was one secret I’d vowednever to spill. Much to the dismay of my handlers. They knew there was moreto her than I reported.
Tonight, as Iheld her pinned against me, feeling the rise and fall of herchest, the stakes felt higher than ever. Her anger and her fire wereintoxicating, making every moment with her a volatile mix of danger anddesire.
“Listen,” Iwhispered into her ear, my voice low and steadyagainst the chill night air. “I’m not your enemy, Venus. I thinkyou know that.”
“I know youare pompous ass.” She hissed at me over hershoulder, but I wasn’t fooled. If this woman wanted to be free,she’d be free. And I’d be lying in pool of my own blood.
Interesting.
“Glad to seemy charm didn’t go unnoticed.”
She struggledin my hold a bit longer, then relaxed with a huff, her bodystill tense but no longer fighting. “You’re infuriating, youknow that, Piston?”
“That’s part ofmy charm too,” I replied, the corner ofmy mouth lifting slightly. I loosened my grip just enough to let her knowshe could break free if she wanted. It was a test as much as it was atruce.
Venus turnedwithin my arms to face me, her gaze fierce and calculating.She wasn’t afraid of me, she knew she could take me, but shewasn’t ready to kill me yet. Made me wonder why. One thing I’dlearned about Venus over the years was she never did anything without atleast a frame up of a plan.
With slowdeliberate movements, she backed up one step. Then another.
“Is this a trucethen?” I kept my hands to my sides, but wasready to defend myself if necessary.
“I’m not sure.”She gave me a curious look, her gazemoving boldly over me. Then her brow furrowed. “I’m really notsure.”
“Then let’scall it a truce. We can always decide later toresume fighting.”
Venus’s lipstwisted into a skeptical smile, but she nodded slowly.“Fine, truce for now. But don’t think this means I trust you,Piston. We’re not buddies.”
“Wouldn’tdream of it,” I replied, my voice low and even.Her distrust was like a sharp blade held at my neck, yet there was somethingexhilarating about not knowing when she might decide to slash. It was all Icould do to keep from smiling. My cock didn’t care if she saw him ornot and shot hard so fast I nearly winced. Thankfully, if she noticed, shedidn’t mention it.
We stood insilence for a moment, the tension between us palpable. Thenight air was warm against my skin, and somewhere nearby an owl hooted, asolitary sound that seemed to emphasize the isolation of our currentcircumstances.
Venus finallybroke the silence. “So, what now, Piston? We just standhere in dark staring at each other until one of us breaks?” There wasa hint of amusement in her voice, a playful challenge I hadn’t heardbefore.
I shruggednonchalantly. “We could do that, or we could put thistemporary truce to better use.”
“What do youpropose?” Her voice was cautious yet intrigued,her eyes scanning my face for any hint of deceit.
“We worktogether,” I said simply. “You have your skillsand resources, I have mine. Together, we can find and kill the fuck outtaZaitsev.”
“Why do youwant to kill him?” She was genuinely curious, but Iknew she was filing away all this information for inspection later.She’d remember everything about our conversation, my expressions, theinflection of my voice, and dissect it for every ounce of information. Justlike she’d been trained to do. Same as me.
“Isn’t itenough that his goons kidnapped my vicepresident?”
She noddedslowly. “Sure. But I don’t think that’s wholestory with you.”
Smart woman.“I’ll tell you my secrets if you tell meyours.”
“Right.” Shepicked up the gun Zaitsev had shot me with,checking the weapon before tucking it against her back in the waistband ofher pants. “I’m going back to Tzars. Lemon wanted me to check onDani.”
I raised aneyebrow. “Lemon. Wanted you to check on hersister.” I spoke slowly, wanting to make sure I’d heard herright, because it sounded suspiciously like Venus, the badass assassin forthe FSB, was… running. From me.
Two thingswere foremost in my mind. First, it didn’t sit well thatshe wanted away from me. Granted, she didn’t know me as well as I knewher, but I was becoming more and more protective of Venus. I wanted herclose where she couldn’t get into more trouble than she could getherself out of. Though I’d watched her from afar for years (stalkermuch?), I liked having her close. I blamed my vice president. Had it notbeen for Lemon getting kidnapped, I might never have gotten this close toVenus for this long. I damned sure wouldn’t have gone with her to killthe man she’d been trying to take down for a decade.
The secondthing, though…
Yeah. Havingmy arms around Venus — even to keep her from eviscerating mewith her dagger-like nails — awoke something inside me I thought was waythe fuck dead. I was forty-seven years old, for crying out loud. While I hadan active sex drive, I hadn’t been this hard for this long in years.Hadn’t had a need for it. If I had an itch, I scratched it with a clubwhore. No fuss. No muss. And no one expecting to be all up in myspace.
Part of what Idid at Grim Road was take care of… issues.Permanently. I’d love to say it was why I came with Venus on thiserrand, but I’d be lying. I’d claimed her in my mind the momentI’d seen her.
About theAuthor
MarteekaKarland is an international bestselling author who leads a doublelife as an erotic romance author by evening and a semi-domesticatedhousewife by day. Known for her down and dirty MC romances, Marteeka takespleasure in spinning tales of tenacious, protective heroes and spirited,vulnerable heroines. She staunchly advocates that every character deserves ablissful ending, even, sometimes, the villains in her narratives. Herwritings are speckled with intense, raw elements resulting in page-turningdelight entwined with seductive escapades leading up to gratifyingconclusions that elicit a sigh from her readers.
Away from thepen, Marteeka finds joy in baking and supporting her husbandwith their gardening activities. The late summer season is set aside forpreserving the delightful harvest that springs from their combined efforts(which is mostly his efforts, but you can count it). To stay updated withMarteeka’s latest adventures and forthcoming books, make sure to visit herwebsite. Don’t forget to register for her newsletter which will pepper youwith a potpourri of Teeka’s beloved recipes, book suggestions, autographevents, and a plethora of interesting tidbits.
AuthorLinks
Author onInstagram & TikTok: @marteekakarland
Publisheron Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok:@changelingpress
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